Page 64 - Oscar Adler - Sell Yourself in Any Interview_ Use Proven Sales Techniques to Land Your Dream Job (2008)

SELL YOURSELF IN ANY INTERVIEW

You should recognize that there are a number of distrac-
tions and habits that can make listening difficult:
❏ Feeling like you must talk

❏ The nearly uncontrollable urge to think about what you
are going to say next—instead of paying attention to what
the interviewer is saying now
❏ Dwelling on questions that are on your mind

❏ Focusing on the interview environment where you may
not feel relaxed
❏ Bad habits that can be distracting, such as nail biting, pen-
cil tapping, finger drumming, etc.

The first and most obvious reason to be a good listener is to
know exactly what the interviewer is asking and why. Again,
this sounds simple enough, but it might not always be easy
to know what is behind an interviewer’s question.
Let’s look at a real-life example. In almost every interview,
the first question posed to a candidate sounds something like:
“Tell me about yourself.”
If you try to answer the question directly, you probably
will ramble on and cover areas that may not be of interest to
the interviewer. Chances are that you will be doing nothing
more than rehashing your résumé. If, as suggested in many
job-hunting guides, you launch into a prepared statement
about all your strengths, goals, and achievements, you still
may not be addressing the needs of the interviewer. Remem-
ber, the interviewer is really asking: “What can you do for
me?” So, when you’re finished with your ramblings, where
have you left yourself? Nowhere! You have no idea

❏ How to address the needs and wants of the interviewer

❏ What is important to the interviewer

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